III. The Qur'anic View of GodIt is thus clear that God, as He is conceived in the Qur'an, is far
different from an arbitrary ruler or a wilful despot. Of course, God
is omnipotent and His Will, in its creative activity, is not subject to
and restrained by any external law or rule. His Will is not a blind
force, terrific and irresistible, which sweeps over the universe,
destroying everything in its tempestuous course. It is the Will of an
omniscient, all-wise, compassionate and benevolent Being. As such,
it is intimately associated with wisdom and goodness, compassion
and benevolence. In short, the Divine Will does not exist and
operate in isolation. It is an aspect of the Divine personality. It may
seem presumptuous to apply the term "personality" to God but
there is no other word appropriate to the unique unity in the midst
of infinite diversity which is God. The unity is transcendental and,
to our finite mind, incomprehensible, but a few of its infinite
aspects are accessible to our senses and reason.
To sum up, there are three distinct spheres in each of which
God's Will works differently. In the realm of "amr," it is not subject
to any laws: it is a law unto itself. In the universe which He has
created, His Will assumes the shape of immutable laws to which all
physical beings are subject. These laws – the Laws of Nature are
called "Kalimaat Ullah" in the terminology of Qur'an, and, as already
stated, are immutable. "There is no changing the Kalimaat of Allah"
(10:64). It is the unchangeability and immutability of these laws on
which the entire edifice of science and the predictions we make in
the realm of physical world are founded. So far as man, a being
endowed with freedom is concerned, there are also laws governing
the development of his self, but man is free either to obey them or
go against them. In this domain, the will of man operates. Here the
initiative lies with man and, in the words of Iqbal, "God Himself
cannot feel, judge and choose for me when more than one course of
action are open to me. He has, by permitting the emergence of a
finite ego capable of private initiative, limited the freedom of His
own free will.” (3) There is thus no^ place for fatalism in Islam.
Man is free to choose for himself the course he likes. Once this
discretion has been exercised, his freedom ends. The results are
related to the course adopted. He is not free to make one choice and
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